Israeli strikes have hit over 400 healthcare facilities in Gaza, killing nearly 700 people. Most of the medical infrastructure in the Strip is damaged and inoperable.
The World Health Organization released statistics on the impact on medical facilities in Gaza during the first five months of the Israeli onslaught. The WHO recorded 410 attacks, resulting in 685 deaths and 900 injuries.
Nearly every hospital in Gaza has taken some damage. Twenty-four of the Strip’s 36 hospitals are not functioning. A panel of doctors speaking to the UN on Tuesday explained the Palestinian medical staff have had to reestablish several hospitals following Israeli raids or strikes.
Additionally, 60 out of 74 primary healthcare centers are nonfunctional. Israel has also targeted ambulances, with 50 vehicles damaged. Paramedics are not the only first responders targeted by Israeli forces. Several members of Gaza’s police force have been killed. Prior to the attacks on officers, the police force escorted aid throughout the Strip.
WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus explained on Thursday that Israel had to allow more aid into Gaza through land crossings to prevent famine. “The future of an entire generation is in serious peril,” he stated.
“Recent efforts to deliver food by air and sea are welcome, but only the expansion of land crossings will enable large-scale deliveries to prevent famine,” Tedros said. “Once again, we ask Israel to open more crossings and accelerate the entry and delivery of water, food, medical supplies, and other humanitarian aid into and within Gaza.”
However, several physicians recently in Gaza said aid could not be distributed in the Strip without a ceasefire. Tedros lamented that the WHO had faced that reality this week when an aid convoy planned for a Hospital in Gaza City was canceled. “A planned mission to Al Shifa today had to be canceled due to lack of security … Once again, we call for health care to be protected and not militarized,” he said.
